Posts Tagged ‘Fiscal Cliff’

Judging from the Fiscal Cliff votes, the United States appears to be eager to follow in the footsteps of Greece and California, rushing to unsustainable spending, crushing debt loads and inevitable bankruptcy, rather than following the lead of Texas and the Red State model of debt-free limited government and free enterprise. So let’s see where the two states are, shall we?

Via Reason comes a link to the website Pension Tsunami, which contains much of interest for those charting California’s decline.

One method California cities are using to continue funding their heroin outrageous pension spending habit is issuing Pension Obligation Bonds, where they sell bonds to pay for pension obligations and then invest them. Indeed, some that got burned by the tactic in the 1990s (like Oakland) are trying again. “Bonds issued in 1997 were, on average, underwater in 2007, even before the stock market crash…’That’s like a compulsive gambler telling you that he has to bet it all on red to make up for his past losses.’”

“Bankruptcy is the best bet most cities have for getting out of their crushing health and retirement obligations to public workers….Government employee compensation, mostly for health and retirement, is at the heart of nearly all the current and looming municipal bankruptcies across the country.”

Over at TPPF, Chuck Devore wonders why Californians don’t stage a tax revolt. “In the meantime, Texas will be more than happy to receive into its welcoming arms people who want to work hard, invest, and create jobs.”

In addition to both Texas Senators (John Cornyn, who should have known better, and the retiring Kay Baily Hutchison, who came in like a lion and is going out like a RINO; thank God Ted Cruz is replacing her), four Republican Texas congressmen voted for the “Fiscal Cliff” tax hike deal:

Write your senators and congressmen to let them know you oppose any “Fiscal Cliff” deal that doesn’t include substantial entitlement reform and real spending cuts, not dummy out-year cuts that will never happen. Write them now, because they will come under tremendous pressure to cave into big spending, big taxing Democrats desperate to keep that deficit spending heroin flowing.

Deficit spending will destroy our economy. The problem is not that we’re undertaxed, the problem is that the federal government spends insanely more money than we have in order to fund a vast array of crony capitalists, special interest groups, and permanent dole underclass for Democrats to milk for votes. If we continue down the current road, we will end up like Greece. There’s time to avoid going over the falls, but it’s getting shorter all the time.

Without spending reform, there’s a good chance that this nation of the people, by the people and for the people may very well perish from this earth.